Dr. Emily Elliott and Dr. Daniel Bain Join the GPS Faculty

After a competitive and long Hydrogeology search, the Geology and Planetary Science faculty have offered Dr. Emily Elliott and Dr. Daniel Bain positions in the Department. They have officially accepted and are expected to arrive at the Univeristy of Pittsburgh in the Spring of 2007.

Dr. Elliott's research uses stable isotope techniques to address questions fundamental to watershed biogeochemistry in both contemporary and paleoecological contexts. Her research program explores three central questions that are united in addressing human impacts to natural systems: 1) What are the sources of atmospheric deposition to watersheds and fate of these atmospheric inputs?; 2) How does land use and landscape pattern, particularly in urban environments, affect nutrient dynamics in watersheds?; and 3) How does land use history influence terrestrial nutrient cycling?

Dr. Elliott explores sources and oxidation chemistry of atmospheric deposition using nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in precipitation, dry deposition, and ambient gases to trace NO_x emissions from stationary and mobile sources across multiple spatial scales. Another focus of Dr. Elliott's research is examining how long-term land use change and urbanization influences nutrient sources to watersheds. This research uses a combination of paleoecological techniques (pollen biomarkers), land use history and nutrient load reconstructions, and sediment isotope geochemistry. Ongoing research associated with the Baltimore Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) and the U.S. Forest Service explores CO₂ and NO_x sequestration by vegetation along an urban to rural gradient using stable isotope techniques.

Dr. Bain's research focuses on the interactions between human and geophysical systems with particular interest in the environmental cycling of trace metals, sediments, and water. Current field research includes: 1) work on urban fluvial systems, landscape history, and trace metal cycling in Baltimore, Maryland at the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, an urban Long-Term Ecological Research site; and 2) examination of hydrological and geochemical processes in the Santa Cruz, California marine terraces at Wilder Ranch State Park in conjunction with the U. S. Geological Survey. In addition to these field studies, current laboratory work focuses on characterizing isotopic fractionations of chromium during oxidation via manganese oxides, to develop tools to understand the source, fate, and transport of trace metal contamination.

At Pitt, Dr. Bain will continue to develop non-traditional stable isotope tools for characterizing trace element cycling in near-surface systems. In addition, Dr. Bain plans on expanding research examining fluvial and riparian systems, particularly the interactions between geomorphic change and trace metal availability.